Missile kills Pakistan tribal head

ISLAMABAD (CNN) -- A tribal leader accused of harboring Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's western border region was killed Thursday night in a targeted missile strike, according to Pakistan intelligence sources. The Associated Press quoted an army spokesman Friday as identifying the tribal leader as Nek Mohammed, a former Taliban fighter.

He was killed late Thursday at the home of another tribal chief, the spokesman said.

"We were tracking him down and he was killed last night by our hand," Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press.

Sigint ping (Totally crazy to publish this)

http://www.dawn.com/2004/12/09/top3.htm

'Militants moving out of South Waziristan'

By Ismail Khan

PESHAWAR, Dec 8: The military says that rapidly falling communication intercepts from foreign militants in South Waziristan indicates they are leaving the area.

"Intercepts in one sector have dried up. That doesn't mean militants have gone quiet. We are still picking up chatter in other areas. They are still out there. But the intercepts are getting fewer and fewer. This is an indication they are on the move and relocating," a senior military officer said at a briefing.

Sources said that militants' communication intercepted by the army's experts revealed that they were finding it difficult to stay on in the face of the military operation and were now looking to either move across the border or melt into Pakistani cities.

The chatter began drying up around mid-November in one region that had been quite active until recently and the military eavesdroppers had to move their equipment accordingly to pick up conversation as militants moved from one region to the other, the sources said.

It became clear in the first week of November that the migration of militants had begun from a part of the Mehsud-dominated region. The intercepts were mostly in the Uzbek language, interspersed occasionally with Pushto and Arabic.

This and field intelligence reports have led military analysts to believe that the group of foreign militants was dominated by Uzbeks and included a few Uighur Chinese Muslims and Tajiks who formed the Islamic Movement of Turkistan (formerly Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan), and that the group was moving out of the Jandola Mehsud region. But there is also a view that some foreign militants are creeping back into their old hideouts in the troubled region. "They keep changing their positions which make it difficult to keep track of them," said one security official.

But military sources acknowledged that militants were using 'very intelligent and high-level' code system which, more often than not, made it difficult for them to decipher their communication.

This correspondent was able to listen to some of the 150 intercepts of foreign militants translated from Uzbek and Arabic languages into Urdu which, going by their content, gave out very little of intelligence value.

Indeed, some of the intercepts were so heavily coded that it was difficult to derive any sense out of them. In one such intercept, Qari Tahir Yaldesh, the leader of the Uzbek militants, appeared to have been on the wireless with one of his people, who affectionately call him the 'big leader' or 'Aala Hazrat'.

The military sources, however, said that Qari Tahir had been intercepted to have given execution orders. "He is ruthless," said one source. "He is heard discussing execution orders and has eliminated some of those very close to him," the source added.

In other instances, names of one Daniyal (said to be a Chechen commander), Zahid and Ibrar (Uzbek militants) continue to crop up. At one point, the caller refers to one Nikolai (a Russian) and at another point refers to one Abu Kashaf and Dr Bela.

In their communication, the militants continue to refer to some 'place of transaction' without being specific. They refer to caves and tunnels and order opening of fire, apparently on approaching security forces.

In one intercept, they refer to watermelons and fish being sold everywhere at (Rs)250. "I have seen the boxes and packets myself," one of the militants is heard saying. "By the grace of Allah, six lemons will explode," says another militant in a different communication intercept.

Significantly, in some intercepts, the foreign militants express their weariness about the attitude of local tribesmen. "The helpers (madadgars) are not helping. They are making excuses," laments a militant.

The intercepts also make references to children and putting them to use. The military sources draw a connection between those references and the recent arrest of Tajik nationals, 14-year-old Khalid and 12-year-old Hussain, from South Waziristan.

Khalid has told interrogators that he, along with four others, was kidnapped by militants from a village near Dushanbe. These sources said militants were living luxurious lives and appeared to be well-funded. The military has tracked one such funding source to Chaman in Balochistan.

8	“The military has tracked one such funding source to Chaman in Balochistan.”

Chaman: A Pakistani border city along the principle route between the Afghani provincial capital, Kandahar and Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Nearby Spin Buldak has been an active hot fire zone in past months. Chaman can be located in the center of the map below, directly on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

multimap.com

The above map came from MultiMap.com. Click the logo on the left to visit
the best site on the internet for accurate and detailed maps of the entire world.

To orient yourself regionally, find Quetta on the map of Pakistan, below and in the map above.

--Boot Hill

18,000 U.S. Troops Begin Afghan Offensive

Sat Dec 11, 9:52 AM ET

By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - The 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites) have begun a new offensive to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida militants through the country's harsh winter, aiming to sap their strength ahead of planned spring elections, the American military said Saturday.

Operation Lightning Freedom was initiated after Tuesday's inauguration of Hamid Karzai as the country's first democratically elected president, Maj. Mark McCann said.

"It's going on throughout the country of Afghanistan. It's designed basically to search out and destroy the remaining remnants of Taliban forces who traditionally we believe go to ground during the winter months," he said.

Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the No. 2 American commander here, told The Associated Press last month that the mission would include a redeployment to tighten security on the border with Pakistan and raids by special forces to snatch rebel leaders.

Protecting Afghanistan's young democracy has become the most urgent priority for American commanders frustrated by their failure to capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), who disappeared here after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The landmark Oct. 9 vote, which gave a landslide victory to Karzai, the U.S.-backed favorite, was free of the major violence threatened by Taliban diehards, who continue to fight on three years after they were ousted. Attention is already turning to the more complex National Assembly election, slated for April.

The new military drive, which involves all 18,000 American troops here, is also aimed at persuading militants to take up an offer of amnesty from the American military and the Afghan government.

"Ultimately, what we believe these operations will do is they will establish security conditions that allow the parliamentary elections in the spring to occur with the same success" as October's vote, McCann said.

Lightning Freedom represents a new phase, rather than any shift in strategy, and commanders will continue with "a mixing of combat operations with humanitarian-type operations," the spokesman said.

However, the United States has several thousand more troops strung out across the south and east, where insurgents are strongest, compared with last winter, and commanders have said they will maintain their forces at current strength at least until after the parliamentary elections.

McCann said the military will also help Afghan security forces combat the country's booming drug industry, by sharing intelligence, ferrying counter-narcotics units to and from raids and rescuing them if they get into serious trouble.

Karzai says Afghanistan's exploding cultivation of opium poppies, the source of most of the world's heroin, is now a bigger threat to the country than militants, and officials are vowing to arrest top smugglers and refiners.

However, the U.S. military is concerned that raids could lead to fresh political instability and will lend a hand to anti-drug raids "as long as they do not interfere with the coalition's primary missions" of defeating insurgents and fostering reconstruction, McCann said.

A spokesman for NATO (news - web sites) forces deployed in the capital, Kabul, and across the north said it would also provide indirect assistance to Afghan counter-narcotics forces, but gave no details.

The number of so-called Provincial Reconstruction Teams — small military units tasked with supporting local authorities and carrying out small-scale relief and development projects — has also risen from five to 19 over the past year.

"It's not just about conducting combat operations. It's also about connecting with the people here," McCann said.

The new operation follows Lightning Resolve, a massive security operation begun in July to protect the October election, the first national vote in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

In previous winters, the U.S. military has mobilized one or two battalions for sweeps of particular regions, an approach which brought few visible results.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=7&u=/ap/20041211/ap_on_re_as/afghan_us_operation

This seems to be a two-pronged offensive...

"The new military drive, which involves all 18,000 American troops here, is also aimed at persuading militants to take up an offer of amnesty from the American military and the Afghan government."

In the first prong, our troops are "raking the ashes" looking for any remaining embers. This is the necessary prep work prior to the up-coming April election of the National Assembly.

In the second prong...

"However, the United States has several thousand more troops strung out across the south and east, where insurgents are strongest...the mission would include a redeployment to tighten security on the border with Pakistan and raids by special forces to snatch rebel leaders."

Interesting way to phrase it.

It would seem to me that rebel leaders caught in raids in Afghanistan would be referred to as arrested. But rebel leaders caught in clandestine raids in Pakistan would necessarily be referred to as snatched.

Hmmm...I wonder?

--Boot Hill

Interesting...(from CNN)...

Afghan President: Bin Laden Is Nearby By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) is "definitely" in the region and eventually will be caught, even though American and Pakistani generals admit the trail is cold.

Speculation on bin Laden's whereabouts has long focused on the mountains along the border between Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Pakistan, where the al-Qaida leader slipped away from Afghan and U.S. forces three years ago.

"It's very difficult to say where he is hiding. He cannot be away from this region. He's definitely in this region," Karzai told CNN's "Late Edition." "We will get him sooner or later, trust me on that."

Pakistan's army has mounted a series of bloody offensives against foreign fighters near the border this year, and American forces launched a winter-long operation last week against Taliban rebels on the Afghan side.

But there has been no indication they are close to seizing the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, which prompted President Bush (news - web sites) to launch Operation Enduring Freedom with an assault on Afghanistan.

Pressed in the CNN interview, recorded Sunday in the Afghan capital, Karzai declined to say whether bin Laden could be in Afghanistan, or in Pakistan. He said he knew of no suggestion the al-Qaida leader could be in neighboring Iran.

"But we can definitely say he's around this region and he can't run forever," Karzai said.

Mullah Omar's security chief captured
Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:45 AM GMT

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=638325

By Mirwais Afghan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan security forces have captured Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's personal security chief as he travelled in a van to the southern city of Kandahar, provincial officials have told Reuters.

The capture of Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan, who headed Mullah Omar's household security, could help U.S. and Afghan forces track down his boss, one of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S.-led war on terror.

Osama bin Laden, who ran his al Qaeda network in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, is also believed to be at large in the region.

"We have arrested top Taliban figures Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan and Mullah Qayoom Angar on the way between Arghandab and Kandahar. They were carrying a satellite telephone and some important documents," said a senior Kandahar security official, who requested anonymity.

"We are hopeful we will arrest more Taliban figures and we hope that we can arrest their leader Mullah Omar," he said on Tuesday.

Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the provincial government, confirmed the arrests.

With the latest capture, security forces have picked up at least 19 militants since Saturday night, including the brother of a former Taliban governor of Kandahar.

Naqibullah Khan was unarmed when he was arrested with Angar, another Taliban commander, on Monday evening. The security official said they were picked up following a tip-off from a Taliban insider.

Mullah Omar's Taliban militia have been waging an insurgency in the south and southeast of Afghanistan since they were driven from power in late 2001 by U.S. and Afghan forces after al Qaeda attacked the United States on September 11.

The Taliban's most senior military commander played down the significance of the arrests.

"Maybe they are ordinary Taliban," Mullah Dadullah, one of the movement's 10-member leadership council, told Reuters by satellite telephone.

But Pashtun said Naqibullah Khan was a dangerous killer who was still in charge of security for Mullah Omar.

"During the (October presidential) election this man killed nine government intelligence agents in the Meyansheen district of Kandahar province," he said.

The commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Barno, said last week intelligence showed the Taliban in turmoil over whether to give up their fight and accept an offer of reconciliation from President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai, who won a strong mandate in the country's first presidential election on October 9, has offered to let Taliban fighters resume a peaceful life.

"We see indications that there are arguments even among the leadership about whether it's time to accept reconciliation with the Afghan government," Barno told Reuters last Thursday.

That optimism was shared by former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose own government collapsed in the mid-1990s amid a civil war that paved the way for the Taliban's takeover.

"I think the Taliban problem will be solved through the negotiations started by the government ... I think there will not be big problems," Rabbani told Reuters on Sunday, adding that traditional tribal councils could play a role.

Some Taliban figures will be shown no clemency because of the gravity of their crimes against the nation, officials say. The government, with input from U.S. authorities, is expected to draw up a list of militants who will not be accepted back in the fold.

Last week, U.S.-led forces launched a winter offensive called "Operation Lightning Freedom" aimed a preventing the Taliban from regrouping to pose a threat to a parliamentary election due in April, after their failure to disrupt the presidential poll.

There are about 18,000 U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan helping Afghan security forces hunt down Taliban guerrillas and some rare al Qaeda remnants still in the country.

In addition, there are about 8,400 NATO-led peacekeepers providing security in Kabul and the more peaceful North.

The CIA has bases in Pakistan. There have been reports that "heavily armed Shepherds" from Afghanistan are kidnapping shepherds in Pakistan. Maybe these are really CIA snatching terrorists.

http://www.chitralnews.com/Latest%20New450.htm

Cross border dacoits raid Badugal village

CHITRAL,15 Nov 04: A group of Afghan nationals from Kunar province raided a Pakistani village Badugal and decamped with 70 heads of goats and kidnapped its shepherd. The raid is said to be for the second time within a short span of one month. The village is situated at a distance of 40 kms from the Arandu border. The looters allegedly entered the village with heavy arms. The locals could not challenge them being unarmed. in the previous raid last month, the same group had snatched with 18 heads of goats. According to some locals, the incidents are the results of rivalry between two brothers living on both sides. One is living in Badugal while the other in Nooristan of Afghanistan who have developed bitter enmity over land dispute.(report by Zahiruddin)

1 dollar = 58 PKR

http://www.dawn.com/2004/12/18/top7.htm

Hunt launched for key militants

By Qudssia Akhlaque

ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: Military authorities in South Waziristan have launched a hunt for three top militants - Uzbek national Yaldeshev, Abdullah Mehsud, the self-proclaimed local leader, and Baitullah Mehsud, the commander of militant forces in Mehsud territory, sources told Dawn.

They said that after dismantling militant camps, gaining control of the area and seizing tons of ammunition in South Waziristan, the troops in the region were now looking for the three key men.

The authorities are confident that the three and other militants on the run will be captured soon, as they are facing an acute shortage of ammunition. The sources claim that Abdullah Mehsud, 29, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, is now left with only about 15 hardcore militants around him.

Mehsud, a graduate of the Gomal University, is the alleged mastermind of the Oct 9 kidnapping of two Chinese engineers working on a dam in South Waziristan which ended in the death of one of the engineers.

His brother is a serving major in the Pakistan army who is apparently helping the security forces in tracing him. It is learnt that an attempt made by the security forces last month for a truce with Mehsud did not succeed.

FUNDING: The sources said that in the first week of October, Rs60 million was distributed through the Al Qaeda network to its three key operatives in the area. One of the recipients was Abdullah Mehsud, the sources maintained.

According to the sources, the cash, mostly in dollars, comes generally from countries in the Middle East and Central Asia and large amounts are distributed among local people to provide refuge to foreign militants. It was found that in one particular case a Madressah was paid Rs100,000 for providing shelter to militants for one month.

HUMAN SMUGGLING: A series of raids and search operations conducted by the security forces and communication intercepts have uncovered a racket of human smuggling, particularly child trafficking in the area, which, according to the sources, is at its peak.

The sources say most of the people smuggled are unemployed youths. These young men are brought from Central Asian Republics (mostly Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) and North Afghanistan.

They are then indoctrinated and trained for carrying out terrorist acts. Other recruits are either criminals or proclaimed offenders. Children can also be hired for two-week assignments for $250, the sources said citing intelligence gathered by security forces.

Pak frustrated over flawed US intelligence on Al Qaeda

Saturday December 18, 2004 (1329 PST)

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=87398

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has conveyed its frustration to US authorities over the quality of intelligence provided by US security agencies regarding the presence and movement of Al Qaeda activists in the country's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials quoted by Khaleej Times say that in most cases the intelligence received from US agencies is flawed and more problematic than of help.

They have pointed out 44 military operations were launched based on US satellite intelligence reports since March this year.

The US intelligence assistance to Pakistani security forces operating in the tribal areas of Waziristan remains unreliable. Officials cite the rugged terrain that has to be covered from all sides when undertaking such operations. An average of 6,000 to 7,000 security personnel has to be mobilized for each operation.

On one occasion, the US intelligence alerted the Pakistani security agencies to a 'big concentration' of what they believed were foreign militants. Later, it transpired that the congregation was a Jirga.

The United states, according to Pakistani officials, has also lagged behind schedule in delivering on the vital security assistance required by Pakistan to apprehend militants.

The list includes new attack helicopters for night operations, night vision devices, night fighting capabilities and surveillance equipment.

Pakistan's grievances have been shared with almost all the Congressmen, Senators and top US officials who have visited Pakistan and asked what they could do to help Pakistan in its pursuit of Al Qaeda remnants.

However, insiders say the US emphasis so far has been more on spare parts than on major security equipment required for the operations.

"What we really need is more ears and eyes, not so many hands," say military strategists, underlining the urgent need for sophisticated security apparatus.

They point to the 249 unfrequented routes along the Durand Line stretch of 1,040km that cannot be sealed even if the entire army is brought in.

Pakistan has established 665 check-posts along its side of the the Durand Line, the coalition forces and Afghan national army have put together only 69 posts along the Afghan side of the border. This is only 10 per cent of what Pakistan has got.

(Note: Dog, Coop, Cap Huff, AdmSmith: See last paragraph.)

8	“The CIA has bases in Pakistan.”

Although Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied claims regarding the presence of active U.S. military or intelligence forces in Pakistan, ever since 2001 the U.S. military, special ops and intelligence services (CIA, et al.) have occupied at least six bases in Pakistan and participate in operations thoughout the country with their Pakistani counter parts. Here's a good reference to those bases and locations, see in particular, ordered-list items 2 and 3 in post #20...

Pakistan Denies C.I.A. Is There Seeking bin Laden

For a good map of Chitral and some neat photos of the spectacular Chitral district, try the following thread link to post #7...

U.S.: Pakistan of little help in the hunt for bin Laden

Lastly, I'd like to thank you for the link to Chitral News.com. I hadn't known of that news service and since there seems to be some pretty credible intelligence of al-Qa'ida activity, if not OBL himself, in the Chitral district, this potentially could be a very useful source.

--Boot Hill

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